Sometimes I forget that not all of you guys follow my Instagram. I do sometimes show WIPs that I’m working on that I don’t blog here, and sometimes I talk about stuff that I don’t blog here. It’s not a choice that I make on purpose, but sometimes I feel it’s redundant to use the same photos and talk about the same stuff everywhere. But this means some of you guys miss out! So, unless you guys leave me a bunch of comments that tell me you follow me on Instagram and there’s no need to double up on info… I will try to make more of an effort to do Instagram round-ups here, or to at least take one of my IG photos and expand on it a little more here. I did notice that some of you wanted to see more about my crochet/design process on the blog, so I’ll try to work on that more!
But today’s blog is not about crocheting. It’s about Bibi. I wanted to talk about what’s happening with Bibi in case any other doggiemamas out there end up going through the same thing.
Bibi is half Shar Pei and half Basset Hound, so she is prone to all sorts of skin/ear/eye/yeast issues which we have dealt with throughout the years. She was basically not meant to be on this Earth, but we are glad she is here! She will sometimes get a random lump or bump under the skin, which the vets usually feel is a fatty deposit. However, a few months ago, I noticed a lump on her skin, near one of her …. uhh, mammaries… teets …doggyboobies… I don’t know what I should call it! It was just on top of the skin, looking like a clump of lumps, and it seemed to be itchy, and would get irritated when she licked it. After watching it for a month, I took her to the vet. Because it seemed itchy, she gave me a spray and said to spray it regularly to see if it helped. Yes, it did help take down the redness, but the lump still remained. So we scheduled her to get it removed and tested, and at the same time, we removed one of her under-the-skin lumps which was probably fat. Bibi spent the next 2 weeks in a cone, which she is a trooper about, but really changes my daily schedule because she can’t fit through the dog door and shouldn’t be left on her own to run around the yard like a maniac.
I knew the news was not good when I called in for results, and the person answering the phone said, “Yes, the results are in… and… I’ll have the doctor call you back.” I was in the car at the time, driving myself home from a dental appointment. When the vet called me back, she told me it was not good news and that Bibi had a stage 3 mast cell tumor (which some of the vet techs called a grade 3 mast cell tumor, so I’m not sure if there’s a difference). At any rate, it was malignant, and apparently aggressive. There was definitely more surgery in Bibi’s future, and possibly chemo, but the next step was to get her x-rays and an ultrasound to see if there were lumps inside of her.
I am generally not an emotional person, but the seed of this idea that my dog could die of cancer got to me. I called Bibi’s doggiedaddy (we are not together anymore), but got voicemail, which was good, because then I just burst into tears like a giant baby while driving my car. I figured it was good to get it all out then, and then go on with life.
This past Saturday, she had her x-rays and ultrasound. The good news is that they didn’t find anything inside of her. So she was scheduled on Monday to remove a larger margin around the lump they removed before, and they also ended up removing another under-the-skin bump on her side. When I picked her up, it looked like a monster had taken a huge bite out of her belly. It turned my stomach to look at it. This was definitely a harder and bigger surgery than a few weeks ago, and I just felt so bad for her.
She has spent the last few days/nights being very restless and crying a lot. She always seems uncomfortable, even though she has two different pain killers. I have not gotten much sleep. The lab is also checking out all the stuff they removed from her, so we’ll see what the next step is after that. The bruising is kicking in, so now it looks like she has a zombie virus to boot, but at least she is peeing/pooping regularly again! Celebrate the victories!
As far as crochet news, I’m finishing up some Etsy orders and getting ready to try to get more patterns up for sale as well filming for YouTube. I can’t remember if I mentioned it here, but I’m prepping a whole new batch of classes for Creativebug! I’ve also been asked to teach a few crochet classes at an event in L.A. which I will tell you more about when it’s official. Until then … I can’t wait for a good night’s sleep! My dogs go to their doggiedaddy’s house on the weekend, so that will be a nice break for me!
(Picture taken by Manda!)
